The state's ban on same-sex marriage discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, ruled Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco Wednesday. He overturned the voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8. An appeal is expected.

The state's ban on same-sex marriage discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, ruled Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco Wednesday. He overturned the voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8.

Will the decision have any effect elsewhere?

This is great news! The "will of the slim majority" should never be used as a bludgeon to deny the civil rights of another.

It's too bad people in every state affected by such laws are going to have to spend the money to initiate their own lawsuits on the matter. It seems like a waste when they should just be able to apply this decision to all states now.

Our need to learn should always outweigh our need to be right

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them.

All that outside LDS money poured into California, and now this. It's almost like California cannot be run like Utah.

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"Wesley told the early Methodists to gain all they could and save all they could so that they could give all they could. It means that I consider my money to belong to God and I see myself as one of the hungry people who needs to get fed with God’s money. If I really have put all my trust in Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, then nothing I have is really my own anymore."

Hopefully, this decision will influence other courts on this subject. Maine had a gay marriage law overturned by a popular vote, so if there is any justice in the world that ban will be overturned on the same grounds.

"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture."-- Thomas Paine: The Crisis No. V (March 21, 1778)

When Proposition 8 passed there was racial tension around the issue of gay rights. Will today's ruling reignite the discussion? Were bridges built or ties irreparably damaged between blacks and activists within the LGBT community since the same-sex marriage ban passed?